On April 15, 1874, on the Boulevard des Capucines, a group of thirty artists were about to change the history of painting forever. On that day, the opening of the First Impressionist Exhibition brought together the proponents of modernism, who had regularly been turned away from the Salon. Among them, a handful of young painters caught the attention of art lovers and unleashed the passions of critics: Monet, Cézanne, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Morisot and Guillaumin, who would soon be referred to as "Impressionist" painters.

Although the participants in the exhibition did not all claim the same artistic principles, the small Impressionist group shared a common heritage: the ancient masters of color, then the Italian Védutists, the Japanese masters of ukiyo-e, the Barbizon school, and their contemporaries Manet and Boudin. Its members practiced plein-air painting, seeking to capture the ever-changing effects of light with vivid brushstrokes. Their attempt was ambitious: to capture every moment and immortalize it on canvas. In a world of perpetual change, they tried to paint the spirit of their times: galloping technical progress, the ever-growing urban population, new leisure activities, guinguettes, opera... 

Rejecting moribund academicism, the Impressionists paved the way for pictorial modernity. Colors are luminous, paint is applied in free, instinctive strokes. Framing became increasingly daring, to the point where the main subject was often off-center and perspective truncated. Movement was sought after, thanks to vaporous contours. All these innovations combined to shake up artistic practice, opening the door to a new kind of painting.

With this exhibition, Galerie HÉLÈNE BAILLY celebrates the Impressionist revolution, its roots and its legacy. A plural heritage, because the Impressionist movement was able to avoid the pitfall of academic dogmatism and promote the avant-gardism of its members. From Eugène Boudin, whom Monet considered his mentor, to Maximilien Luce and the first Francis Picabia, the echoes of Impressionism resonate throughout modern painting.

The port of Trouville at low tide, an oil on panel painted in 1894, brings together the fundamental elements of Eugène Boudin's (1824-1898) painting, making him an indisputable precursor of Impressionism. By painting the reflections of light on the Touques and groups of fishermen between their beached boats, he became the witness of ephemeral moments that he tried to capture. A plein-air painter fascinated by the inexhaustible interplay of sky and water, Boudin continued to paint landscapes in Brittany, the Midi, Venice and, of course, Normandy. Around 1858, he introduced Claude Monet to painting from the ground up. Monet would say: "If I have become a painter, I owe it to Eugène Boudin". 

Monet also appears in the work of his pupil and daughter-in-law, Blanche Hoschedé-Monet. Here, the Impressionist legacy is literal: on the death of her father-in-law, Hoschedé-Monet fought to save the gardens of Giverny. Le bassin des nymphéas à Giverny, painted in 1927, just one year after the master's death, is therefore not only a moving tribute to Monet, but also a celebration of the place in the purest Impressionist technique. The reflection of the tall trees on the still water of the pond contributes to the softness of this painting. The subtle, tight brushstrokes are reminiscent of the movement's founding works. These include Alfred Sisley's Paysanne sous un arbre en fleurs and Gustave Caillebotte's Roses in a Vase. The water lily pond at Giverny, with its historical and technical dimensions, lies at the heart of the Impressionist movement.

Impressionism's renewal of painting, its new subjects and technical innovations, paved the way for new forms of pictorial expression. Félix Fénéon coined the term "postimpressionism" to describe a multitude of movements that gave rise to modernity. Every painter had to think about his relationship with Impressionism, whether he was breaking with the movement or continuing it. Among the painters pursuing Impressionist research, one group stood out for its vitality. Following in the footsteps of Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, the Divisionist painters applied innovative theories: by juxtaposing small touches of pure color, they succeeded in preserving their luminosity without attenuating the color. Market Day in Gisors, painted in 1897 by Maximilien Luce, is a magnificent example of Divisionist research. Here, the juxtaposition of touches of green, pink, orange, red and blue results in a luminous, high-contrast painting, in which the softness of spring mornings shines through. 

Through a selection of works by Degas, Van Rysselberghe, Renoir, Cross and Henri Martin, galerie HÉLÈNE BAILLY invites you to celebrate 150 years of Impressionism, the movement's beginnings, its apogee and its plural legacy. The history of nascent modernity is the history of the flowering of post-impressionist movements: it is the history of Impressionism.